Trust Me
by KJ Masi
Summary: Dima Karalis, a girl from northern Norway, just wants to be happy in Oslo, but she soon realizes there's obstacles at every corner. Her boyfriend's ex, her crazy dad and her own trust issues all add up to one interesting year at Norway's prestigious, Hartvig Nissen School. (Originally uploaded to Wattpad. Not a copy just trying to get my work to as many people as possible)
1. Chapter 1

Dima had been laying on her back on her board for hours. Her headphones were in and her eyes were closed and she was trying her best to not be overly angsty about her family's move to Oslo. Being a 17-year-old Norwegian girl, angst was kind of her thing, especially given her obsession with trying to show people she was different than most of the teenage girls in her country. She did have to admit, with a little more thought she would have realized a skate park was not a place to do her moping. At least not on a Friday night.

"Ay man, what did you tell them your name was?" Dima kept her eyes closed as she heard the laughs of a couple guys approaching. Not her proudest moment given it was midnight on a Friday night in a new city but she wasn't up for moving.

"Adrian Eksett. She just believed me when I said I had no ID, she's not a very good police officer." Another person laughed. Dima could guess from the sound of these guys that they were probably teenagers at youngest given the first one's deep voice and the topic of conversation. From her own experience, they were probably native to Oslo just based on their accents. She heard shoes scuffling and given the situation she guessed they were intoxicated in some way. With her eyes still closed she heard them stop dead in their tracks as they seemed to approach her.

"Shit, is she dead?" The first voice raised his concern.

"Dead? That's your first thought? Not just asleep or something?" one of his friends, obviously the least intoxicated one, responded.

"I'm fine, dumbasses." Dima opened her eyes and sat up. The four boys standing there were all obviously high. One more than the others as his eyes seemed more unfocused and Dima assumed another one could just hold his drugs better than his friends.

"Um, sorry?" The one with the deep voice replied after they had all found their bearings once they were relieved to find out Dima was alive and breathing. Dima noticed his unruly curly hair and massive eyebrows that took up an abnormal amount of his face. One of his friends, later introduced as Mahdi, just shoved his friend as if asking him why he's apologizing.

"Sorry for Jonas, he doesn't know how to talk to pretty girls." One of the blonde boys stood in front of his friends who began laughing.

"What, Isak? You can do better?" The boy asked the other blonde who had started laughing and who happened to look the most out of it.

"I'm too high for this shit, I shouldn't have taken that pill." Isak sat down on a bench near Dima.

"You're new?" Mahdi asked.

"Just moved from Tromsø. I start at Nissen on Monday. You guys are from here?" Dima was always up to talk to people who seemed alright and she thought these boys could be fun.

"Tromsø's far but I knew I heard some northern in your accent. But yeah we're all born and raised and it looks like you've just made some friends at Nissen." Mahdi seemed quite sociable which Dima appreciated.

"Funny, I hear some southern in your accent," Dima poked fun.

"You board?" Jonas, the boy with massive eyebrows pointed to the board Dima was still sitting on.

"Yeah, not much to do up north in the summer." Dima got off her board and showed Jonas.

"Can I try it out?" Dima was tempted to let him but she wasn't sure given the redness of his eyes.

"That depends on how much you blazed tonight." Dima raised her eyebrow while Jonas's raised in terror.

"You can tell?" just by his reaction Dima was sure he was fine, he may have smoked some that night but he still seemed to be able to function.

"Your eyes, man. Here, take it for a spin." Dima handed him the board.

"Ay, he's going to bail." The first blonde who had tried to hit on her sat beside to watch his friend fail.

"Is he usually good though?" Dima asked.

"Magnus over here has never seen Jonas skate. He's good though, he probably wont bail." Isak added in the last bit quickly once he realized that Dima was starting to get worried. She didn't think handing her board over to a guy who had never skated before and who was incredibly baked would be a good way to make friends.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" Magnus asked Dima. She sighed along with Mahdi since Isak had his head between his knees, obviously greened out.

"Dude, you don't need to hit on everyone. We know you're desperate." Mahdi told his friend and Dima just laughed.

"Yeah, I mean, once you start hitting on a girl who dresses more like a dude than you do, it's a little sad." Dima said but immediately Mahdi recoiled. Ensuring her that it wasn't what he meant.

"It's all good, man. Everything I'm wearing if from the men's section. I think I'm wearing the same jacket as Jonas and the same pants as Isak." Just as Dima said this, there was a yell from the skate pit and immediately Mahdi, Magnus and Dima jumped into the pit to get Jonas. It turned out that he had tried to do some sort of trick but kicked the board up wrong and fell on his arm, scraping it up and Dima was sure it was going to be bruised.

"Hey man, you're going to be fine but maybe you should stay off the board." Dima patted his back. The four boys invited Dima back to Jonas's as she seemed liked the only one who could clean up Jonas's arm given the state of everyone else.

"No one's home so we should be fine." Jonas opened the door to his family's apartment and invited everyone in before going to the bathroom with Dima in tow.

"So, what'd you use? An apple?" Dima asked as she got disinfectant wipes ready.

"Water bottle."

"Did you make Magnus drink the bong water?" Dima asked and Jonas just cracked up, nodding.

"After Isak made out with one of the hottest first year's in our school. That guy has got game." Jonas laughed in disbelief which quickly turned into a painful one as the disinfectant was applied to his scrapes.

"Huh, I thought he was gay." Dima commented as she wiped down almost the entirety of Jonas's arm.

"Why?"

"I don't know, just got the vibe. I spent most of my time with LGBTQ people, I'm usually pretty good at spotting them but maybe I was wrong." Dima explained.

"Why did you spend so much time with them? Were all of your friends gay?" Jonas seemed to both be interested and trying to distract himself from the pain.

"No, well I mean yeah they were basically all gay but so am I. Well, pansexual but I'm part of the community. I think I have friends from most letters in LGBTQ+. Trans people, non-binary people, gay people, asexual people, I mean we were the LGBTQ community." Dima found some gauze and wrapped up Jonas's arm as to not get his scrapes infected. She wasn't sure Jonas was in the right mind to understand what she was saying but she was surprised as he nodded his head in understanding. Talking about being gay was usually when she lost the interest of straight cis boys but Jonas seemed to be picking it up.

"There you go, good as new but maybe ice it?" Dima finished with his arm.

"How do you know how to clean this?" Jonas asked as he stood up and lead Dima to his room where the boys were.

"I told you I've been skating my whole life, right? I've had worse falls." Dima walked into Jonas's room and fell into a comfy chair she saw as if she had lived there her whole life.

"So, what year are you guys in?" Dima asked, wanting to find out more about her new friends.

"Second and according to our friend Vilde, we're middle of the pack and nobodies." Isak kind of laughed as he said this but Dima wasn't sure if it was because of what she said or because he called Vilde their friend.

"Huh, nice friend." Dima giggled.

"She's definitely interesting. So, is Dima your real name?" Mahdi asked, also trying to get to know a new friend.

"Yeah, but it's short for Dimitra. Somehow a Greek family ended up in northern Norway and here I am." Dima shared.

"Hey, I'm a Vasquez, I don't even know how Spaniards decided Norway was a good place to settle." Jonas laughed a little before Mahdi just pointed to his skin which was at least three shades darker than Dima's and six shades darker than Jonas. He looked at them almost like they were stupid and the group just laughed. They spent the night at Jonas's just talking and getting to know Dima, while Dima got to know them. Dima was incredibly surprised with herself as she had fun with a bunch of random high guys while she was completely sober but she was happy to have made some friends before her first day of school.

"What If I can't make her come?" Magnus asked he group just as Dima approached them, looking just as masculine as the day before. She always wore loose clothing that hid her curves, though for special occasions she would sometimes switch it up.

"Go down on her." Dima replied before anyone else could.

"That's how Jonas got his rep last year." Mahdi added.

"No way, 16 and you were already going down on girls, that's impressive." Dima fist bumped Jonas to show her respect.

"So, it really works?" Magnus seemed surprised to hear it.

"Oh yeah, I mean I don't know if it was because a girl was doing it so I knew what she liked or what but this chick came fast." Dima explained her own experience.

"What, are you a lesbian?" Magnus asked, forgetting his previous question.

"Nah, I like boys too." Jonas smiled as Mahdi and Magnus looked a little confused. Dima was sure that she was the only one who noticed Isak's look he gave her, almost of disbelief.

"Hi, are you new? My name is Vilde." A small girl with platinum hair walked up to the group and shook Dima's hand.

"Uh yeah, first day." Dima looked back to her friends, remembering what they had said about Vilde.

"Don't ask her to join any groups, yeah? Her Friday nights are already planned, she's pregaming with us." Jonas said since he knew Vilde better than he liked to.

"She's going to be spending all of her time with boys?" Vilde asked as if it was the most surprising thing in the world. Dima thought maybe she hadn't properly looked at her.

"Well, she's our friend," Isak looked at Vilde like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But she's a girl! She needs girl friends." Vilde put her hands on her hips.

"I'm right here, guys. Okay, I'm sure I'll make some friends who aren't boys." Dima was done with the conversation and walked away, knowing she left Vilde annoyed. Dima couldn't see but Jonas followed her, trying to hide his laughter as he passed Vilde.

"Hey, not all the girls are like that, my ex Eva is pretty cool. Isak said her friend Sana can be a little scary but she's okay." Jonas basically just wanted Dima to keep optimistic about her time at the school. As her friend, he thought it was his job to help her realize that her life wasn't going to suck.

"You're still friends with your ex?" Dima knew it happened but in her experience, it wasn't a common occurrence.

"Yeah, she helps me talk to girls," he laughed, causing Dima to laugh as well.

"Jonas, what happened to your arm?" A redheaded girl came up to the two who had entered the school. She looked concerned as she grabbed his gauze wrapped arm.

"Oh, Friday night I fell off a skateboard." Jonas explained, letting the girl check over his arm though Dima knew it wouldn't do anything since it was already wrapped up.

"You mean the same Friday night you got high off a stash you left at my house when the cops showed up?" The girl quickly turned judgemental.

"Hey, that was Isak's fault, he said he'd take the stash." Jonas defended himself.

"Whatever. Who's this?" she put her hands on her hips as she turned to look at Dima, knowing that there was nothing else to say on the stash matter.

"I'm Dima, the one who was stupid enough to give Jonas a board to ride while he was stoned." Dima stuck her hand out as Jonas introduced the redhead as Eva. After exchanging casualties, Eva left to her group of friends and Dima couldn't help but notice the whispering.

"She just showed up and now she's friends with them?" Chris asked Eva as the girls surrounded her, just a few feet from where Dima was eating lunch with Jonas, Isak, Magnus, and Mahdi.

"Yeah, she said she gave Jonas a board to ride, that's how he injured his arm." Eva explained. The group of girls were suspicious of Dima, almost as if they expected drama to ensue.

"She can't spend all of her time with boys! She'll take all of them!" Vilde exclaimed. She always had issues with people who did things different than how she believed they should be done.

"I'm sure she won't take them all. She just found friends." Sana reasoned with the group though she knew it was such a big deal because of Jonas and Eva's past.

"I bet she just wants to sleep with Jonas, that's why she's latching onto him." Eva assured the group. They didn't want to say anything but Sana and Noora shared a look, knowing Eva still had feelings for Jonas.

"It kind of looks like he's latching onto her." Noora nodded towards the group. It was true, the boys were all laughing along with Dima but Jonas specifically was nudging her and seemed to be poking fun at her. The girls all looked over and saw what Noora meant.

"I mean, aren't guys usually touchier when they like girls?" Chris asked harmlessly. Eva got up and walked away. Sana sighed but Noora quickly got up to follow her, only after assuring Chris that Eva was just overreacting.

"Hey, last week didn't you assure me that you didn't have any feelings for Jonas?" Noora asked Eva as they sat in the stairwell.

"Yeah, I mean I don't, I just don't want some girl trying to come into this year and mess everything up." Eva said, throwing her hands up.

"Eva, come on. It's okay to have feelings for him, it's okay to be jealous." Noora tried her best to comfort her best friend.

"I'm not jealous!" Eva exclaimed and stomped away just in time to bump into Dima.

"Oh, sorry. Hey, you're Eva, Jonas's ex, right?" Dima noticed the slightly familiar face as she got her balance and stood straight.

"I'm Eva's friend, Noora. Dima, right?" Noora made conversation after noticing the stink eye Eva gave Dima.

"Yeah, so, uh, do you know where room 221 is? Jonas tried to explain it but then he just started yelling at Magnus when he tried to help." Dima kind of laughed as she explained the situation. Just three days with those boys and she was already wondering how she would deal with them in the future. Eva rolled her eyes and Noora sighed.

"Spanish 2? We're going there right now." Noora ushered Dima with them, up the staircase and down the hall. Dima ended up sitting beside a random guy, just behind Noora and Eva's table.

"You don't sound like you're over him." Dima heard Noora say before Eva gave her a look to tell her to shut up.


	2. Chapter 2

"No, amar conjugates to amo, amas, ama, and aman." Jonas explained to Dima as they sat on his bed. Since his mother had insisted on him learning Spanish from a young age he easily agreed to tutor Dima. They had been sitting on his bed for hours but every time they started doing work, Dima would get off topic.

"So, it's love, I lovo, you lovas, he lova." Dima joked, moving her arms in big motions to make sure he knew she was joking.

"Are you going to do that for every verb?" Jonas was getting a little annoyed, understandably, but Dima just didn't like Spanish.

"Let's go do something, let's go board or get food." Dima tried to convince him.

"You're cute when you try to avoid work." Jonas said, holding onto Dima's chin and shaking his head in slight disbelief. Dima's smile widened when Jonas grabbed his jacket, prompting her to grab her own.

"So, what're we going to do?" Dima skipped out of the building.

"You're the one who wanted to go do something, you decide what it is." Jonas raised his eyebrows to Dima.

"Do you know anyone who's 18?" Dima kept walking.

"Not someone who's going to buy us booze on a Thursday night." Jonas shut her down.

"Do you still have that stash of greens?" Jonas had never seen Dima seem interested in smoking so this made him a little excited.

"Isak still has it but he should be home." With that in mind the two made their way uptown.

"Have you ever smoked greens before?" Jonas wanted to be sure how much help she would need that night.

"Yeah, you could say I've smoked it a few times." Dima giggled as she answered, knowing she had made it a habit in her previous year of school.

"I'm going to say you have too?" Dima asked, not really guessing as it had been said that they were high the first night Dima met the boys.

"Oh yeah, actually the first time I properly smoked it was when Isak and I were in a cabin with Eva. She hates greens and had no clue we were so baked." Jonas laughed as he remembered that weekend.

"Eva's quite the character. I don't think she likes me." Dima had held that in for a few weeks, trying to ignore the fact that she seemed to be hated.

"Yeah, I don't know really. We had kind of a complicated break up, she kissed another guy and her reputation kind of went down hill. She told me she needed to find herself but that was after I told her to leave me alone until she knew who she was. Then we slept together and suddenly it was over. I mean, I've had my time to get over it, I had a few more weeks than she did in the long run but I think she might still be keen on me. I might be being vain or something but that's just how it feels." Jonas stuck his hands in his pockets as they kept walking. Dima looked over at him, wanting to stop him and tell him it was okay. She thought it appeared he felt bad for moving on but in all honesty, he felt bad for something else.

"My ex was kind of the same way. They were finding them self but in the process, they turned into someone I didn't know. Alex just wasn't the person I fell in love with but they were still my best friend. They moved on faster than me but I never judged them for it. We had the same friends still and they never judged either of us. Just don't beat yourself up about it. Once Alex got another partner I forced myself into another relationship too fast and then it didn't last and it wasn't good for either of us. I don't really know why I'm saying this. I haven't thought about this in a while but if you think she's still keen on you she might be, but don't feel bad if you don't feel the same." Dima gave Jonas a small smile. He took his hands out of his pocket and wiped his face as if to wake himself up.

"I'm, uh, actually keen on someone else but I don't know if I can do that to Eva. Not if she still has feelings for me." Dima had started to notice the sensitive side of Jonas. The side that he didn't necessarily hide but he didn't often show. After looking around for a second, Dima realized they had passed Isak's flat but she thought the conversation they were having was more important than greens.

"Like I said, you can't let your happiness be second to her feelings for you. That's no way to live." Dima grabbed Jonas's hand and pulled him over to a park bench. She held his hand between both of hers, trying to show him any form of comfort.

"But she's also my friend and I still care about her feelings. I'm sorry, you don't want to hear about this." Jonas shook his head and pulled his hand away.

"Hey, I'm your friend, I'm here to help and to listen. And you know what, you're my favourite person here in Oslo. Which, by the way, I never thought I would say that after you thought I was dead the first time we met." Dima smiled and Jonas chuckled along. Dima was glad to see him smile after it seemed like he was in so much emotional turmoil and pain. This time he grabbed her hand and she was glad to see it.

"In my defense, I was high out of my mind. You were lucky I even said "she", I thought you were some homeless man at first." Jonas smiled at her.

"Wow, you really know how to take a girl's breath away, first call her a man then call her homeless. How do you not have a girlfriend?" Dima didn't really take offense, she knew her style often made her come across very different than she was. Jonas's smile started to fade and he looked down to the ground.

"Hey, smile it suits you." Dima nudged him with their interlocked hand. His smile slowly got bigger but it never reached passed a lopsided smirk.

"So much for smoking tonight, huh?"

"You know what, because this conversation was so riveting, I will go to the party with you guys tomorrow." Dima had been pregaming on Friday nights with the boys for the month that she had been in Oslo but she had never ventured to the parties with them. She decided it was time she went to her first party in Oslo.

"No way, seriously?" Jonas's smile widened and Dima knew she made the right choice.

"You are going to be lucky enough to see me in all my drunken glory." Dima started laughing and Jonas grinned.

"Well, it's going to be a fun night, I'll tell you that." Dima looked skeptically at Jonas.

"What do you know that I don't?"

"Isak's going to tell us all something that I say is cause to party." Jonas grinned as Dima only shook her head. Jonas leaned over and kissed Dima's cheek, right on her cheekbone where an unusual dimple showed up when she smiled.

"What was that for?" Dima let out a breathy and confused laugh.

"Thanks for cheering me up. Guess I didn't need the greens." Jonas looked down again but this time it wasn't melancholy. He rubbed his thumb along Dima's hand, which she had forgotten was still in his. Dima could tell he was content so she laid her head on his shoulder. He let out almost a sigh of relief as they both closed their eyes. Dima had never felt so at home while in Oslo than sitting there with Jonas. After some amount of time had passed, Dima pulled her knees up to her face and rested the hand in which she held Jonas's on her knee. She softly kissed his hand and laid her cheek on top.

"I didn't know how much I needed this." Jonas mumbled. Dima almost wanted to cry. To her, Jonas was the most deserving of love and comfort but he couldn't seem to find it in anyone. She felt honoured to give him what he needed so simply. This time it was Jonas's turn to put his head on Dima's shoulder. He laid face down and kissed where the bone sat before laying his cheek there, the bridge of his nose leaning on her neck. Dima's heart was racing and she was scared that Jonas could tell. She could feel his breath on her collar bone and goosebumps took over her body. The hand he was holding was starting to sweat and Dima was sure any second, he would pull away to wipe his hand dry. But he never did.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Jonas mumbled, sending shivers down Dima's spine as she felt the vibration from his voice through her shoulder and neck.

"Um, sure?" Dima was caught off guard, she had been lost in her thoughts when Jonas broke the silence.

"Okay, my sister and my mom are out so we can have the laptop." He explained, still not moving from his position. Dima thought it might be because he knew what just his voice was doing to her.

"Okay," was all Dima could say. Eventually they both got up and started walking back to Jonas's in the dark though he never let go of Dima's hand. At one point, he loosened his grip to slyly get more air flow to dry their hands but that was as loose and their hands would be all night. They got comfortable in Jonas's bed with the blankets wrapped around them and the laptop in between. While their legs tangled together and their shoulders were pressed close. Throughout the movie, Jonas played with Dima's hair and fingers, distracting her from what was happening though she didn't really care. The next morning it wasn't their idea for Mahdi to find them. They were cuddled together, Dima's head on Jonas's chest, his arms wrapped around her body and her hands gripping his shirt. They didn't want it to be, but it was embarrassing.

"Oh, uh, I-wha-uh." Mahdi stood there, opening and closing his mouth like a fish after he burst into the room, thinking that Jonas simply overslept since his mom usually left early in the morning and his sister had gone away on a school trip. It took Dima and Jonas a second to take in the situation but when they realized what was happening they basically pushed each other away, which in Jonas's case ended with him on the floor. Dima knew the issue with her being initiated so easily as "one of the guys" was that once she started acting in a way that didn't fit with that it would lead to an awkward situation.

"So, uh, school. Yeah." Jonas got up off the floor and nodded to the general room. Dima just sighed and pulled the blankets over her face, not feeling as embarrassed as the two boys. Mahdi realized his cue to leave and went to sit in the living room to wait and cool down his burning face.

"So, I'm going to guess you guys never even share beds." Dima laughed as she put on her socks.

"I mean we definitely don't cuddle." Jonas raised his eyebrows, trying to convey that he felt something last night and they had to talk about it at some point. Dima swallowed and averted her eyes, not sure about what to say or do.

"Uh, can I borrow some clothes?" Dima broke the silence. Jonas looked down at his feet and nodded before leaving the room for Dima to find clothes and change.

Once at school, Dima and Jonas couldn't hide the fact they had spent the night together. Whether it was sexual or not, most of the school didn't know, but they knew that Dima was wearing an outfit of Jonas's clothing and it had become increasingly more obvious over the weeks how close the two were.

"Why does everyone automatically assume she's wearing Jonas's clothes? Maybe she just has similar stuff." Noora tried to reason with the group of girls as they continued their usual watch of Dima sitting with the boys.

"I bought that shirt she's wearing, its from Copenhagen. I got it for Jonas last summer." Eva's voice was monotone, trying to keep any hint of emotion from leaking out.

"Oh," Noora didn't have a response that would make her friend feel better.

"It's okay, really." Eva tried to convince her friends. Throughout the month, Eva had finally broken down and told her friends that she was still keen on Jonas. This meant that while it was obvious there was something going on between Jonas and Dima, it was Noora, Sana, Chris and Vilde's job to make Eva feel better about the situation. Eva had to say she appreciated the effort but no matter how hard they tried, she knew Jonas was keen on Dima. She knew him well enough to know. She watched as Dima made some joke and Jonas raised his eyebrows at her as if challenging her. He got his face closer to hers but she just laughed and pushed it away. Eva looked away and left the cafeteria. Dima turned away from Jonas for a second and noticed Eva walking out. Dima looked down, trying to figure out what to do before grabbing her bag and standing up.

"Wait, just one second." Isak stopped her, forcing her to sit back down and sitting on the other side of Jonas. Dima wasn't really paying attention for the first few minutes of the conversation. She had heard about Mahdi and Isak fighting last weekend but she didn't pay much attention to it, knowing that whatever happened it was obviously alright now. Dima just started paying attention when Jonas nudged her.

"Uh…guys? Remember when we were watching those chicks dance?" Isak started, Dima could tell he was nervous but if this conversation was going anywhere she thought, she had to listen.

"Brother, every time I close my eyes I see those girls." Mahdi obviously didn't see where it was going and Dima couldn't blame him. But she also had to agree with him.

"Fuck, it was hot." Magnus added in his two cents.

"But do you remember that guy that came up to us?" Isak said, trying to bring the conversation back into his control.

"That gay guy?"

"Why do you think he's gay?" Isak asked defensively.

"You were the one who said he was gay." Dima was starting to realize how thick Magnus was.

"Oh, not that guy! The other guy who came up to us." Dima wanted to help Isak with this conversation but by Jonas's reaction she thought he already told him. If Dima said anything she was scared Isak would think Jonas told her.

"Yeah, maybe?"

"Well, uh, the guy who said that…I had forgotten my hat in the cafeteria." Dima didn't understand why Isak was so focused on this guy for the conversation.

"Yeah, I think I remember him. What about him?" Dima was hoping that the tone of Mahdi's voice meant that he was catching on.

"We had a thing." Isak looked like he was about to pass out.

"A thing?" Magnus asked, sounding like he was genuinely trying to understand.

"A thing." Isak repeated.

"What the fuck, are you gay?"

"I'm not gay! Okay, maybe I'm a little gay, but…it's not like I'm keen on you guys, for example. Like, I'm not going around wanting every boy I see." Isak was trying to keep his friends from judging him.

"Uh…You're hooking up with chicks every weekend." Magnus wasn't accusing, only confused.

"Yeah, but maybe he's pansexual." Mahdi seemed to forget that Isak was sitting right there.

"What's pansexual?"

"It's when you like both."

"That's bisexual, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I think it's 'bisexual'." Dima let the conversation continue, laughing a little bit at their new topic.

"Yeah, but pansexual is also that you like both."

"What the fuck's the difference between pansexual and bisexual, then? There's no difference!"

"Pansexual is liking all genders, bisexual is liking two. Don't even ask about the more than two genders thing right now." Dima interjected, trying to end that part of the conversation.

"Well, anyway, pansexual, bisexual, gay or not, he's said he can do pre-gaming on Friday." Jonas helped bring the conversation back.

"Awesome." Mahdi dropped the topic as well.

"So, there might be more girls for us now since you're suddenly a fag. Ay!" Magnus half-joked.

"Doesn't mean you'll have better game." Isak was back to his self.

"Huh?" Magnus seemed confused for a second but instead of staying, Dima got up again to find Eva.


	3. Chapter 3

"Eva!" After some well thought out strategy to find Eva, Dima finally did. She was in a stairwell, sitting on the window ledge and looking outside. Eva looed over but once she saw Dima she turned away again.

"Do you not like me?" Dima was tired of trying to walk on eggshells around Eva. There was no reason to make things difficult, if she didn't like her then she should just tell her. Eva whirled around with a look on her face that said she was about to lose it on Dima.

"Why would I not like you? Because you're throwing yourself at my ex boyfriend and one of my best friends? Because as far as I'm concerned, you're leading him on and he's going to fall for you, and fall for you hard, but you're not going to feel a thing for him? Maybe it's because you're going to hurt him and I don't know how to stop you." Dima was taken aback. She had no idea how to respond; all she could think of was how Eva said Jonas was going to fall for her.

"But that's fine, I'll just sit here and watch the boy I love fall for some girl who doesn't have the guts to admit that she's never going to love him back."

"Wait a second, why are you so hung up on the fact that I won't love him back? Where did you get that from?" Dima had to focus on one thing Eva said at a time to not get overwhelmed.

"You're gay! How can you love him back?" Dima felt like she had been shot in the gut. She had only mentioned her sexuality to Jonas, Isak, Mahdi and Magnus and only Jonas knew her real label. She wanted to know how people came up with this information.

"I'm not gay! I like girls, yeah, but I like boys too. I have the full capability to love Jonas back if that's even a feeling he has!" Dima was angry. Not only was it not Eva's place to tell her she was gay or that she couldn't love Jonas back but she didn't know what she had done to cause as these feelings.

"But why the fuck does he like you? What do you have that I don't? Is it because you dress like a boy, talk like a boy and look like a boy? Maybe Jonas is gay and you're his way of figuring that out! Maybe it wasn't me who had to figure out who I was, maybe it was him!" Eva was yelling; Dima guessed in a few minutes, people would come to see what was happening. But Eva's blow was low and Dima couldn't let it go.

"Look, its not my fault you're insecure in yourself and who you are! Jonas doesn't like me, first of all, and second of all who are you to judge how I dress? I dress how I feel comfortable, I talk how I've learnt, and I look how I want but guess what? I'm a girl because that's what I'm telling you! Just because you think Jonas is keen on someone who doesn't look like you, does not mean his sexuality is different. If thinking he's gay is the only way to make you feel like it wasn't your fault you guys broke up, then fine, do what you want. But don't shit on who I am in the process!" Dima yelled back. She wasn't going to take shit from anyone, especially not someone she thought was an entitled brat. During her speech, a crowd had gathered but that didn't seem to stop Eva from responding.

"I don't know who you think you are, but let me tell you something: back off! I only care about Jonas and how you're going to ruin him! I was good for him! I made him happy!" Eva stopped dead in her tracks. She was breathing heavily but it seemed that she just stopped talking for no reason until Dima saw that she was looking passed Dima, at someone behind her. Dima turned around and saw Jonas staring at the two of them, maybe confused, maybe concerned. Dima wasn't sure.

"Whatever, I'm done, I'm out. I'll find some new friends or something. If its going to cause this much drama then, whatever." Dima looked between Jonas and Eva before pushing her way through the crowd and out of the building. She went and sat on a bench to sit and think about everything that had just happened. She realized within a few minutes that she was sitting on the same bench her and Jonas had sat on the night before. She didn't know what kind of feelings it brought up but she definitely felt something.

"Dima," she heard Jonas's voice from behind her. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, the most cliché move she could have made.

"I got Eva to tell me what happened. I'm sorry she said all that to you. It was out of line." Jonas apologized for Eva. Dima could see that his hands were shaking in his lap.

"I've had worse." Dima said easily. Jonas put his head in his hands before turning to Dima, angry.

"Why do you say stuff like that?" Dima could tell something was up.

"Like what?"

"You say stuff that reminds me you didn't always have someone who would go to the end of the world for you." Jonas's emotions were flaring.

"I've never had that, I probably never will." Dima looked to her hands.

"You have that right now, he's sitting right beside you." Jonas turned her head and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"I can't do this." Dima pulled away.

"Why?" Dima could tell Jonas was hurt, but it was Eva that had affected Dima that day.

"Look at what just happened. That was because Eva thought you were keen on me. What's going to happen if we start something?" Dima was scared and Jonas could see it.

"Nothing is going to happen. You told me yourself, I can't let her feelings dictate my life and that's what I'm doing right now. Plus, if she sees that I'm happy I'm sure she'll back off. I wasn't with her because she's a bad person." Jonas felt that he had to defend Eva. He knew she shouldn't have said what she did but he also couldn't completely blame her. Dima sighed and Jonas took that as his cue to pull her chin towards him. This time she looked him in the eyes and didn't pull away.

"Okay." She put her hand on the side of his face and then moved it to the back of his head to run her fingers through his mess of hair. Slowly their faces moved closer, both were scared. Scared of what was going to happen after. They had built the perfect friendship but they had also developed feelings they couldn't change. Dima could feel Jonas's breath on her lips. With her heart racing, she kissed him. It felt like hours before they let go of each other and caught their breath. Jonas put his arms around Dima, holding her as close as he could.

"Should we go back to school?" Dima asked, not wanting to go back but feeling like they should.

"No, but I'll tell you what. The party tonight is going to be fun with you there." Jonas smiled. Dima had almost forgot her promise to Jonas. But she was glad she was going, she knew what it meant now that her and Jonas had admitted their feelings, but it was also better than trying to find an awkward time in their relationship for it to happen. Dima smiled at Jonas, prompting him to kiss her again. That was a feeling they could agree they could get used to. They spent hours on that bench, talking, laughing and kissing so often anyone would have thought they were trying to make up for not doing it sooner.

"I'm going to go home and get changed. I'll see you at Isak's?" Dima stood up. Jonas seemed surprised she had to get ready but she was going to a party and after everything that happened that day, she wanted to dress to impress. As she was leaving Jonas grabbed her waist and pulled her back to him, smiling as he kissed her again and she laughed. She just shook her head as she walked away, knowing Jonas was no longer trying to be subtle as he watched her hips sway as she walked away.

"I'm home!" Dima yelled as she entered her family's house. Immediately she was overtaken by two of her younger siblings, three-year-old twins Milos and Lydia. They jumped onto their older sister as they had almost every day she came home. She swung each of them around, making them take turns until they had each gotten their fair share of play before she entered the kitchen where her 16-year-old brother Aleksy was standing with her older sister Daphne who was three years her senior.

"Mom's not happy." Aleksy stated while sitting on the countertop.

"Why?" Dima sighed.

"Because you called and said you were studying with Jonas and then sent a text at midnight saying you were staying over." Daphne responded.

"You know mom, she's overprotective of you guys." Aleksy added. Dima knew her brother and sister weren't trying to defend how overbearing their mom was but just remind her that she should know better.

"Is she working?" Dima asked, trying to think of a way to get her mom to let her go to the party tonight since she was mad.

"Milos and Lydia attacked you, right?" Aleksy laughed and Dima sighed while laughing as well. Their mom worked from home since the twins were still young. She always worked at night so that the three eldest kids could take care of them while she got work done.

"She thinks you and Jonas are dating, so she's going to give you the sex talk again." Daphne called to Dima as she walked upstairs to find her mom in her study.

"Hey mom, sorry about last night. I have a test coming up so I thought I should study as much as possible. I didn't realize the time and Jonas didn't want me walking the streets that late at night." Dima easily lied. Her mother left her research on her computer to turn to Dima. Irena Karalis had her first child 20 years ago, but she was still as beautiful as ever. Sometimes Dima wondered if she had gotten the seemingly ageless genes from her mother and she hoped so. Her mom had gotten pregnant with Daphne at 16 so she was only 36 but after seeing pictures of her mom before she got pregnant, Dima thought she hadn't aged a day. Deep down, Dima thought that was why she put so little emphasis on looks; if her mom looked like that after six kids and her dad still cheated and left, what effect did looks have on love?

"Are you and Jonas having sex?" Her mother asked outright. Dima may have been prepared for the sex talk but she was not prepared for her mother to ask so bluntly.

"Wha-we-no! No." Dima stuttered. Her mother only raised one eyebrow, a habit Dima had picked up from her but she could never do it as well as her mother.

"You spend a lot of time with him, at his house. You never bring him over here." Irena defended her thoughts.

"Mom, Jonas and I have not had sex. We just hang out at his house because it's a little hectic over here." Dima reasoned. Five kids would be hectic enough without two of them being three years old.

"Are you going to have sex?" Her mother seemed to be able to read Dima like a book.

"I-I don't know." Dima couldn't completely lie to her mom, not about that at least.

"I know you've had sex before," Irena started and gave Dima a stern look when she groaned, "but its only been with female bodies." Irena was trying get her point across properly.

"Well, I mean the body is only female if the person says they're female." Dima said, trying more to get out of the conversation than actually correct her mom.

"Fine, only with bodies assigned female at birth. Better?" Irena wasn't going to let Dima get away that easily. Dima sighed and nodded her head.

"Okay, well you know male bodies are different, come with different risks and feelings." Dima quickly stood up.

"You are not leaving this conversation!" Irena tried to stop Dima.

"You know, the guys are actually expecting me at Isak's soon and I have to get ready because I'm going to a party tonight." Dima backed out of the room.

"You're going to a party? Is Jonas going too?" Irena asked.

"I'll say goodbye before I leave." Dima ran out of the room. Dima locked herself in her room to get ready. That night she was dressing to impress considering the day she had. She put on her only pair of black skinny jeans which were ripped in the knees and came up just below her belly button so her naval ring was visible along with a tight cropped tank top that crossed in the front. She put on a large white button up with floral print embroidered on the side along with her Adidas superstars and her glasses. She kept her usual "dad hat" and winged eyeliner but changed out the retainer she had in her lip and replaced it with a stud so her medusa piercing was now very easy to see. She made sure the each one of her many ear piercings had jewelry in them and put on all of her usual rings. She was impressed with how good she looked. Her curly hair had been freshly cut and dyed a very dark blue just two weeks ago, so it sat perfectly on her shoulders and the cream coloured hat contrasted nicely. She threw on a heavy plaid flannel jacket and yelled goodbye to her mom and siblings before leaving the house.

"Holy shit," was all the boys had to say as Dima walked into Isak's flat. She was glad to see that the pregaming was only going to be the five of them and not basically be a party in itself like a few previous times.

"Hey," Dima said as she sat down at the table and paid Jonas for the beer he got her. Jonas smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips, much to the surprise of the three other guys in the room.

"Not even going to ask," Isak sat down and shook his head. The conversation continued as usual only with Jonas's arm over Dima's shoulder. They were laughing and talking about music, Nate Dogg and NWA specifically when the topic of Isak's possible boyfriend, Even, came up.

"Oh, so he's also pansexual?" Magnus asked, considering he had a girlfriend it wasn't a stretch.

"I don't know." Everyone could tell that wasn't the biggest issue on Isak's mind.

"Just one thing, I've been thinking about a little bit, and sorry if it's rude or anything, but…gays when they have sex. Who's the man and who's the woman?" Magnus asked and Dima had to purse her lips to not laugh at everyone's reactions.

"Dude…" Jonas put his hand on his face, disappointed in his friend.

"What?" Magnus didn't understand the issue with what he had said.

"Funny you should ask, 'cause I was just going to ask you the same about when you have sex, who is the man and who is the woman? But then I remembered you don't have sex!" the entire table apart from Magnus burst into laughter.

"Fuck! Wow, where did that come from..."

"Was it such a bad question? I was seriously wondering, but okay…"

"Magnus, the whole point of it being gay sex is that they're both men." Dima smiled as if talking to a kid and Magnus finally realized his mistake.

"Alright, okay, but honestly…I feel like you're letting him play you, a little bit." Jonas shrugged to Isak. He was his best friend and didn't want him to get hurt.

"Playing me?" Isak questioned. Dima could tell the thought had briefly crossed his mind but never seriously.

"Like, he keeps you going, then nothing happens, and he's still together with that chick." Dima had to agree with Jonas, Even didn't seem like he was really trying to be with Isak, thought Dima did know what it was like when you started questioning your sexuality.

"Yeah…but it's not like I can control what he does." It sounded like Isak was trying to defend Even's actions but he still knew they were wrong.

"But you can! If you like, completely straight up, you send him a text saying "Hey dude, stop this shit!"" Dima raised her eyebrows at Jonas, not sure if he realized that saying that would make it seem like they were friends and not more.

""Yo dude, stop this shit" …Nah, that's not me." Isak looked at Jonas like he was stupid.

"Yeah. Or, maybe not, but…like… "Text me…stop texting me, call me when you've broken up with your girlfriend". Straight up. That's what works!" Jonas tried to convince him.

"And then if he really is interested he's going to get stressed. We've all been there." Mahdi added his two cents into the conversation, trying to help his friend.

"Right! Like, if you've got something going on with a girl, or you just want to fool around with her, and you're not keen on like a relationship with her or anything, but then if she texts you "What's happening? Let's meet. I'm sick and tired of you not being serious." Then it becomes serious immediately!" At this point, Dima started to listen intently, sure she had her fair share of relationships but she had never heard this from a guy's perspective, especially not a guy she had a thing with.

"Yeah, and like, you're getting a slight shock." As Mahdi said this, Dima knew that Isak wasn't sure that this advice would work on boys.

"Exactly. You don't mess with her after that."

"It's worse when she doesn't answer when you text. When you see, she's seen your text like an hour ago," Dima knew it was mean but she kind of wished Magnus wouldn't interject like that. It made her feel bad about his love life.

"Yeah…" Jonas was only trying to not make Magnus feel worse. As they continued talking, Dima kept her eyes on Isak, watching him type on his phone. She was proud of him, that he was taking control as it seemed like Even had most of the control in the relationship.

"I did it. Sent the message." Isak put his phone down. It looked like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Not half bad!" Dima could tell Jonas was proud too, finally his best friend stopped taking peoples shit. Within seconds there was a ding from Isak's phone.

"He answered! "What are you doing now, can we talk?"" Isak sounded both excited and scared and Dima couldn't blame him.

"Call him."

"No! Don't call him. Write uh… "chilling at home."" Jonas seemed sure, but Isak not so much.

""Chilling at home"?" Isak questioned.

"Yeah, that's good." Mahdi seemed impressed with Jonas.

"Chilling at home, uh…. call me if-" Isak spoke as he typed.

"No! You want him to call but like, you have to write it in a way that you…don't want it? You get it? So just write "chilling at home" and then done. Chilling at home." Jonas enunciated to get it through Isak's head.

"Chilling at home. Okay. "Chilling at home", smiley?" Dima knew her and Isak were alike. He didn't want to come across angry or disinterested, but Dima was sure he knew that to get through to Even, that's exactly what he needed to do.

"No! Chilling at home, done. Zero feelings. Totally...straight up." Jonas looked about ready to grab Isak's phone and send it himself.

"He's going call." After what felt like hours to everyone in the room, but was really just minutes, there was a ring at the door.

"What's up, did you invite someone?" Mahdi asked.

"No, you're the only friends I've got." Isak stood up and walked to the window.

"Hah!"

"Probably just Eskild. He forgets his keys every fucking…" Isak trailed off, "it's Even."

"Seriously?" Jonas laughed and immediately everyone became alert.

"I'm not fucking around, it's him." Isak started getting nervous.

"It's Even! Come on, we'll go and meet Even, boys!" Magnus started to get up, excited to meet his friend's boyfriend.

"No!" Isak insisted.

"What, why?"

"Seriously, I'm not fucking around. Out! Out, out, out, out, out!" Isak shooed everyone out, making them grab their jackets and beer in a hurry.

"And where are we supposed to go?" Jonas asked as he put his jacket on and grabbed his beer.

"Why can't we meet Even?"

"You can't meet Even! What the hell are you on about?" Dima was hoping everyone would realize how stressed Isak was and not take anything he said seriously.

"Okay, pre-drink outside! You do have a party to go to!" Isak yelled.

"But it's fucking freezing!"

"But we'll see each other!" Jonas pointed out something no one seemed to think about.

"No, you're not going to meet each other, you'll take the back door!" Isak panicked, throwing everyone's shoes to the back door.

"Go, go, go, go, go!" Mahdi pushed everyone.

"Get them, for fuck's sake!" Dima yelled at Isak. They were all at the back door with their booze and jackets, and they were rushing for Isak so the least he could do was hurry and give them their shoes.

"You took my shoe!" Magnus complained.

"Whatever, come on!" Dima pushed everyone out.

"Most important is that we're leaving!" Mahdi pointed out as they ran out of the flat and down the stairs until they got outside.

"Fuck, Even's up there right now. Holy shit." Dima was jumping around outside with Jonas laughing at her. She was so excited she jumped into Jonas's arms and he twirled her around.

"So, uh, when did this happen?" Magnus pointed to Dima and Jonas.

"Today," Jonas admitted. Mahdi let out a massive sigh and looked at the two of them.

"Thank god, man. For a second I thought I walked in on you two going at it this morning." That just caused both Dima and Jonas's faces to go bright red and for them to collectively push their friend.

"Shut up!" They said together.


End file.
